Thursday, August 11, 2005

“What have you done?” I roared at Muse, backing away from her.

“I-I– I don’t know. It wasn’t me…I swear it wasn’t me,” she sobbed, genuinely shocked as I was.

There, in a pitiful crumple on the floor, lay the Doc in a pool of fresh blood, with most of his body consumed by the Rot. The office was a shambles. But he was still alive.

Two hours ago, we had arrived in the Plains, full of resolve that Doc Caplet would make things right. A short walk later and, just as Muse had described, we strolled into a small town caught in the motions of winding down after a long day. People bustled from door to door, street corner to shop to carriage, defiant against a dusk that was bound to come.

It did come, slowly and then absolutely, and all around town windows lit up in surrender like stars of the firmament. The Modest Rube was particularly bright, its frosted windows tempting passersby with lively silhouettes. Muse and I stepped through the front door to find an animated scene, a warm pastiche of construction workers, pencil pushers, florists, barmaids, and bankers celebrating their break from industry.

“The Doc, is he around?” I shouted to the barkeep.

He crammed some money into the register and turned to me.

“Upstairs, chief. Haven’t seen the fella in a week,” he yelled over the din, leaning on the bar. “Always been a little odd, that one.”

I looked around and found Muse waiting by the door to the Doc’s office. A little jostling and a few pushes later, I made my way to her side.

“The guy says the Doc is here,” I said.

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“The Doc, he’s here. Hasn’t left his office in a week!” I cried.

“Something’s wrong,” Muse suddenly warned.

The look on her face was confident, but confident of only sad things. It was always a prelude to something bleak.

“I’m here. I won’t leave you,” I whispered in her ear.

“I know. This should only take a moment,” she said as she turned the knob.

We stepped through the door and started up the steps. All became strangely quiet, as if the pomp outside was a sorry accomplice.